It warms the heart to see so many number-crunchers on here.....lets be proud of our Pivot tables and oversized calculators!
I've progressed up to Finance Manager with only a 'C' at GCSE Maths and no accountancy qualifications whatsoever. I might start studying this year just to get it on my CV. (Although I'd rather not!)
I'm currently doing Cima and did an exam yesterday. AAT gave me exemptions from the certificate stage, even though I passed it in 2000! So started from scratch really at 37, find some bits interesting but most of it boring, but was born with a talent for numbers. Why couldn't it be a great left foot or film star looks?! Would recommend dodging AAT and going straight in for CIMA or ACCA. Good luck.
I wonder if anyone's opinion has changed on the Accounting Technician qualification v ACCA/ACA/CIMA in the past two years?
I'm in a new job and they are offering to support me through a finance/accountancy qualification, but they're not putting any pressure on me. They're suggesting the AAT as a possible starter but ACCA/CIMA would be other options. I'm a graduate and strong in maths/spreadsheets stuff. I have been working in a Finance type environment for the past few years (but not as an accounts person).
Is it better to go straight for ACCA/CIMA or would AAT be a better option?
I wonder if anyone's opinion has changed on the Accounting Technician qualification v ACCA/ACA/CIMA in the past two years?
I'm in a new job and they are offering to support me through a finance/accountancy qualification, but they're not putting any pressure on me. They're suggesting the AAT as a possible starter but ACCA/CIMA would be other options. I'm a graduate and strong in maths/spreadsheets stuff. I have been working in a Finance type environment for the past few years (but not as an accounts person).
Is it better to go straight for ACCA/CIMA or would AAT be a better option?
A full professional qualification such as ACA, ACCA, CIMA etc is obviously better than AAT if you have the ability, opportunity and wherewithal or financial support to obtain it.
However AAT is not all bad and does offer a "consolation" qualification if for whatever reason (financial for instance) you are unable to complete the full professional examinations.
Back in the dark ages the ACA examinations were Foundation, PE (Professional Examination) 1 and PE 2. If you passed your PE 1 you could apply to become a member of the AAT providing you had the requisite practical experience. At that time PE 2 was very hard to pass and plenty fell by the wayside both for that reason and the fact that self financing accounting study is extremely expensive and some simply could not do it.
As I've tried to demonstrate in the paragraph above the AAT demonstrates a level of professional competence at junior and intermediate level so you should be employed at least.
The downside is that you almost certainly won't achieve a senior level (partner, financial director etc) and thus make a lot of money.
Speaking as an ACA and employer of a few people studying accountancy, I rate AAT very highly in terms of the practical skills it carries with it. Unfortunately from the holder's point of view, it doesn't seem to carry much of a premium when it comes to salary, though it will open doors to employment, so I agree with Len on that.
I'd recommend ACCA as a strong, respected, valuable qualification that will give your career a huge boost. The downsides are that it is harder and more expensive than CIMA, though I personally dont have a lot of time for the CIMA qualification as I have often found that people take ten years to plod through the exams one by one, and I dont believe it requires the intellectual rigour that the other full qualifications do. When I qualified you took all four exams in a two day period and had to pass the lot, or retake them all. It was a bastard.
I have known some excellent CIMA accountants, but also some very poor ones who thought because they were qualified they knew it all. That hasnt been the case with ACAs or ACCAs. I dont know how representative my views are, but I suspect I'm not alone.
Have a look into the exemptions from ACCA that AAT would give you, and you will get a recognised technical qualification on the way to a full professional one after. Good luck!
My day to day manager qualified through AAT and then either ACA or ACCA, I'm not sure. My overall supervisor is CIMA. They're suggesting AAT as a starter to have a qualification "in the bank" and for the practical experience start. I have some knowledge/experience of the basic stuff. I was thinking of going for ACCA.
If it's any encouragement for you to get an accountancy qualification it may be this thought...the money laundering, anti-bribery and terrorist laws, added to the approach of the regulators plus politicians thinking it is a vote winner to blame the banks and fine them for everything has brought in de-risking and this is gathering momentum...pandora's box has been opened and the government and regulators can't put the lid back on...people and firms are losing access to the banking system now as a result and I suspect the only way back for some will be to have audited accounts to prove where their money and wealth came from...accountants could hit the jackpot
If you're serious about gaining a professional qualification (ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW) then AAT might be worthwhile depending on your existing level of qualifications. If you have a degree in anything don't bother cos you can start the pro studies straight away. If you have A-levels and any relevant work experience probably not worth starting AAT cos the full AAT only provides minor exemptions from pro-quali's. If you have no more than GCSE's AAT a great way to start. All require a whole other kind of commitment and application than anything you ever did at school but nothing is really academic or taxing until you get to the final stage of the professional exams. Fair warning: the economics and law elements are tedious beyond imagining.
AAT level 4 only gains you exemptions from the first 3 ACCA exams, F1-F3 (all of these can be taken as multiple choice exams at a local ACCA centre, and to be honest are very easy to do over a couple of months).
F4-F9 and P1-P3 + 2 of P4-P7 (total 11 full 3hr15 additional exams) will still need to be completed for full qualification. If you're thinking of ACCA as the end goal then I'd go straight into it.
I came out of Uni with a BA degree in Economics and then followed it up with CIMA. Have done ok work-wise, not brilliantly. Sadly, after 17 years, I have totally fallen out of love with Accountancy and want to do something entirely different. The thought of spending another 20-30 years behind a desk looking at spreadsheets for 8-9 hours a day absolutely terrifies me.
I'm not totally sure what direction I'm going to go in but I've got a couple of irons in the fire which I'm currently considering.
I think it depends on your age, experience and knowledge.
I did AAT as a 19 year old in a Local Gov Finance office who admittidely didn't know much at all about Accountancy, so it was a valuable qualification as it does give you a good base knowledge to build from and it gets you familiar with studying and taking exams (in case it's been a while) and if accountancy is not for you, it's gives you a chance to bail out at the end of the three years having achieved something.
In my case I could then start ACCA at a relatively young age still and as it happens I qualified last year.
I think being in a day to day job that links into your studying is a massive help, as there were many times when i did not have this and struggled to be able to apply the theory.
On JohnBoyUK's point - I have had a few of those moments down the years where I seriously considered jacking it, but i think that was the result of failed exams and feeling like I was never going to get there, in addition to being in the same job for too long. A job change eventually got me going again and pushed me over the line.
Good luck to anyone taking any of these qualifications - they're not easy - well not for people like me anyway, who left school at 16 with grade C GCSE's in maths etc.
I came out of Uni with a BA degree in Economics and then followed it up with CIMA. Have done ok work-wise, not brilliantly. Sadly, after 17 years, I have totally fallen out of love with Accountancy and want to do something entirely different. The thought of spending another 20-30 years behind a desk looking at spreadsheets for 8-9 hours a day absolutely terrifies me.
I'm not totally sure what direction I'm going to go in but I've got a couple of irons in the fire which I'm currently considering.
My day to day manager qualified through AAT and then either ACA or ACCA, I'm not sure. My overall supervisor is CIMA. They're suggesting AAT as a starter to have a qualification "in the bank" and for the practical experience start. I have some knowledge/experience of the basic stuff. I was thinking of going for ACCA.
I said I'd prefer to go straight into ACCA and that was clearly the wrong answer... Beginning to be a bit frustrated about it as I left a better paid job and moved city for this as it appeared to be a better career path. I'll have to give it another go tomorrow or Monday and then review my options.
If anyone is interested in applying for an Assistant Managment Accountant or Management Accountant role in SE London Academy School please pm me. Especially if you have Sun6 experience. Thanks
If anyone is interested in applying for an Assistant Managment Accountant or Management Accountant role in SE London Academy School please pm me. Especially if you have Sun6 experience. Thanks
Comments
I've progressed up to Finance Manager with only a 'C' at GCSE Maths and no accountancy qualifications whatsoever. I might start studying this year just to get it on my CV. (Although I'd rather not!)
I'm in a new job and they are offering to support me through a finance/accountancy qualification, but they're not putting any pressure on me. They're suggesting the AAT as a possible starter but ACCA/CIMA would be other options. I'm a graduate and strong in maths/spreadsheets stuff. I have been working in a Finance type environment for the past few years (but not as an accounts person).
Is it better to go straight for ACCA/CIMA or would AAT be a better option?
However AAT is not all bad and does offer a "consolation" qualification if for whatever reason (financial for instance) you are unable to complete the full professional examinations.
Back in the dark ages the ACA examinations were Foundation, PE (Professional Examination) 1 and PE 2. If you passed your PE 1 you could apply to become a member of the AAT providing you had the requisite practical experience. At that time PE 2 was very hard to pass and plenty fell by the wayside both for that reason and the fact that self financing accounting study is extremely expensive and some simply could not do it.
As I've tried to demonstrate in the paragraph above the AAT demonstrates a level of professional competence at junior and intermediate level so you should be employed at least.
The downside is that you almost certainly won't achieve a senior level (partner, financial director etc) and thus make a lot of money.
I'd recommend ACCA as a strong, respected, valuable qualification that will give your career a huge boost. The downsides are that it is harder and more expensive than CIMA, though I personally dont have a lot of time for the CIMA qualification as I have often found that people take ten years to plod through the exams one by one, and I dont believe it requires the intellectual rigour that the other full qualifications do. When I qualified you took all four exams in a two day period and had to pass the lot, or retake them all. It was a bastard.
I have known some excellent CIMA accountants, but also some very poor ones who thought because they were qualified they knew it all. That hasnt been the case with ACAs or ACCAs. I dont know how representative my views are, but I suspect I'm not alone.
Have a look into the exemptions from ACCA that AAT would give you, and you will get a recognised technical qualification on the way to a full professional one after. Good luck!
My day to day manager qualified through AAT and then either ACA or ACCA, I'm not sure. My overall supervisor is CIMA. They're suggesting AAT as a starter to have a qualification "in the bank" and for the practical experience start. I have some knowledge/experience of the basic stuff. I was thinking of going for ACCA.
His personality.
F4-F9 and P1-P3 + 2 of P4-P7 (total 11 full 3hr15 additional exams) will still need to be completed for full qualification. If you're thinking of ACCA as the end goal then I'd go straight into it.
I'm not totally sure what direction I'm going to go in but I've got a couple of irons in the fire which I'm currently considering.
I did AAT as a 19 year old in a Local Gov Finance office who admittidely didn't know much at all about Accountancy, so it was a valuable qualification as it does give you a good base knowledge to build from and it gets you familiar with studying and taking exams (in case it's been a while) and if accountancy is not for you, it's gives you a chance to bail out at the end of the three years having achieved something.
In my case I could then start ACCA at a relatively young age still and as it happens I qualified last year.
I think being in a day to day job that links into your studying is a massive help, as there were many times when i did not have this and struggled to be able to apply the theory.
On JohnBoyUK's point - I have had a few of those moments down the years where I seriously considered jacking it, but i think that was the result of failed exams and feeling like I was never going to get there, in addition to being in the same job for too long. A job change eventually got me going again and pushed me over the line.
Good luck to anyone taking any of these qualifications - they're not easy - well not for people like me anyway, who left school at 16 with grade C GCSE's in maths etc.
Thanks
Do they do that in blue?